THE CREAM FOR CATS ... IT'S £200M

Sunderland back in big time with massive payday

- SIMON MULLOCK

YOU can't put a price on joy like this. Or the agony.

Okay, so conservative estimates reckon promotion to the Premier League is worth £200million given that lovely little insurance policy called parachute payments.

And that would have been of particular interest to Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus as he watched on from Wembley’s Royal Box as Eliezer Mayenda and substitute Tommy Watson both scored goals in the last 14 minutes to send his club back to the big time.

The bankers at Macquarie, the Australian finance company that has been lending money to Sheffield United secured against future revenues, must have been rubbing their hands in anticipation for most of the afternoon when Tyrese Campbell fired the Blades into a first-half lead their dominance warranted.

But while the self-styled richest game in football will ultimately be measured in pound notes by the men in suits, for the northern hordes that traipsed down the M1 this was all about the glory.

The raucous Roker roar that greeted both of Sunderland's goals and the final whistle might have been heard all the way back on Wearside.